Phonics & Early Reading

"The more things you read, the more you know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." Dr Seuss, 1978 

We know that reading supports children to overcome disadvantage and that strong reading skills improve children’s academic attainment across the rest of the curriculum. Reading is a key tool for life. Our curriculum enables our children to develop a life- long love of reading as well ensuring they are always ready for the next stage of their education. We aim for all children to become fluent readers who develop a love of stories and storytelling.

At Longford Park Primary School our children start to learn to read and write effectively using the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme produced by Ruth Miskin.  

With the Read Write Inc. phonics programme, pupils will:  

• Decode letter-sound correspondence quickly and effortlessly using their phonic knowledge and skills 

• Read common exception words on sight 

• Understand what they read 

• Read aloud with fluency and expression 

• Spell quicky and easily by segmenting the sounds in words 

In addition, we teach pupils to work effectively with a partner to explain and consolidate what they are learning. This provides the teacher with opportunities to assess learning and pick up on difficulties. In Read Write Inc. pupils are grouped in terms of their ability, meaning they are reading at an appropriate level for their decoding ability every day. We make sure that pupils read books that are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and the common exception words. This is so that, early on, they experience success and gain confidence that they are readers.  

Three things to do when listening to your child read:

1. Ask your child to read the sounds and words before they read the story. They will enjoy teaching you to read these words too. 

2. When your child reads the story, encourage them to read the word in 'Fred Talk' if they hesitate or read it incorrectly. Praise them when they succeed. 

3. Read back each sentence or page to keep the plot moving - your child’s energy is going into reading the words not the story. 

Three things not to do:

1. Don’t read the story to them first. 

2. Don’t ask your child to guess a word by looking the pictures. 

3. And, importantly, please try not to become irritable if your child ever struggles!  Keep smiling! 

Our staff who teach Read Write Inc. phonics carry out assessments every six weeks. This data allows us to intervene in different ways. For example, we quickly move pupils to another group if they start to progress faster than their peers.  

Alongside this, teachers read a wide range of stories, poetry and non-fiction texts to pupils across the school. All staff celebrate reading for pleasure and we talk to children about the books we're all reading at home.

When listening to your child read it is important to ask them questions to prompt their understanding and inference skills. It is not expected that you ask a question every time they read a book to you. However, by choosing 2 or 3 questions to ask before, during and after the reading of their book it will support their developing comprehension and ultimately, their enjoyment of reading. The following questions can be adapted for Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children.

Asking questions about a book… 

Choosing a book: 

• Why did you choose this book? 

• Did you like the picture on the front?  

• Have your read other books by this author?  

• What could this book be about?  

Before reading the book:  

• Can you point to the title?  

• What do you think this story will be about? What might happen in the story?  

• What do we call the writing on the back of the book?  

• What does the blurb tell us?  

During the reading of the books: 

• Tell me what is happening in the pictures?  

• What has happened so far?  

• What might happen next?  

• How do you think the story might end?  

• What sort of character is…?  

At the end of the book: 

• What was your favourite part?  

• What was the most interesting/exciting part of the book?  

• What sort of character is…? 

• What happened in the story?  

• Who are the main characters in the story?  

• Would you read another story by this author/illustrator?  

• Did you like this book? Why?  

 

For more information, or to find more tips and hints on reading to your children, please visit: Parent guide to Read Write Inc. Phonics - Oxford Owl